Hawaii senators are being asked to confirm an unusually high number of nominees to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources this year.
The Senate Committee on Water and Land recently held public hearings on two separate days to vet five nominations from Gov. David Ige for the seven- member board overseeing the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Having five nominees at once is unusual because BLNR member terms are staggered to avoid such a scenario.
However, a coincidence of term alignment and prior board departures resulted in the current situation. The board governs an agency whose responsibilities include regulating use of public and private conservation lands, protecting natural resources including beaches and leasing state-owned commercial property to businesses.
The five nominees include two members who have held interim seats on the board since July and January, one member whose term that began in 2019 is expiring, and two people who would fill seats of two members with expiring terms in June.
These nominees are:
>> Doreen Canto, representing Maui since July.
>> Aimee Keli‘i Barnes, representing Oahu since January.
>> Wesley “Kaiwi” Yoon, an at-large representative since 2019.
>> Karen Ono, a Kauai nominee.
>> Riley Smith, a Hawaii island nominee.
All five received unanimous consenting votes from the four participating Water and Land Committee members, all of whom interviewed the nominees, during hearings held on March 18 and 21. The committee’s vote provides guidance for an upcoming decision by the 25-member Senate.
Most nominees received total or near total supportive public testimony, while Smith’s nomination drew the most public testimony by far — comments from about 100 people or organizations that included about a dozen expressing opposition.
Suzanne Case, board chair and DLNR’s director, was among Smith’s supporters.
“He brings a very big wealth of land management expertise and engineering and planning as well,” Case told the committee. “He’s got very extensive community service in his background. He’s really quite experienced in public service, and we’re grateful for that.”
Smith, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, is president and CEO of Lanihau Properties LLC, a Hawaii island commercial real estate owner and development firm. Lanihau Properties also owns Palani Ranch. Smith’s career includes serving as deputy chief engineer at the Hawaii County Department of Public Works, chair of the county Water Commission and longtime director of the Waimea Community Association.
Some of the negative testimony for Smith referenced his prior position as regional manager for Sandwich Isles Communications from 2002 to 2005 and as a vice president for a Sandwich Isles affiliate from 2007 to 2009, where he led construction of a fiber-optic network connecting five islands.
“Mr. Smith was a principal of a company during a period of time when the company was committing proven fraud,” Hawaii island resident Deborah J. Ward said in written testimony.
The owner of Sandwich Isles parent Waimana Enterprises, Albert Hee, was convicted in a 2015 federal tax fraud case over claims that he booked nearly $3 million in personal spending as corporate expenses, and he received a four-year prison sentence.
Waimana, Sandwich Isles and Hee also were issued a $49.6 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission two years ago based on $27 million in alleged undue payments from the federal Universal Service Fund to establish and maintain high-cost communications network operations serving about 3,600 Department of Hawaiian Home Lands customers.
Then-FCC Chair Ajit Pai said at the time that Hee engaged in a scheme using money from a web of connected companies to pay for personal expenses for himself and family members over nearly 15 years.
Smith told the committee that he was an employee and not an owner of the company, though he still considers Hee, a high school classmate, a good friend.
Individuals and organizations submitting supportive testimony about Smith included Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth, former BLNR member Jimmy Gomes, the Kohala Coast Resort Association and KTA Super Stores President Toby Taniguchi.
If confirmed, Smith would replace Christopher Yuen, whose term ends June 30.
BLNR’s other departing member is Thomas Oi, whose term representing Kauai expired in 2020 but has been held over since. Oi’s nominated replacement, Ono, was chief executive for the Kauai Board of Realtors from 1979 until December.
Yoon, the longest-serving board member up for confirmation, is vice president of operations, planning and project management at Bishop Museum and worked for DLNR from 2015 to 2018, then joined the board in 2019. Yoon’s term expires June 30.
Canto, appointed on an interim basis in July, was a Hawaiian Homelands Commission member from 2014 to 2017 and chaired the Maui Police Commission from 2005 to 2010.
Barnes, appointed on an interim basis in January, is the principal of consulting firm Hua Nani Partners, which provides policy and strategic advice to nonprofit and philanthropic organizations with a focus on climate change.
Besides Case, the other BLNR member whose seat wis not in play is Vernon Char, whose term ends July 30, 2025.
